Lemmon: Don't overlook the progress that Afghan society has made

Gayle Lemmon, author of the bestselling “The Dressmaker of Khair Khana”, wrote in today’s USAToday about the impressive, yet neglected progress that Afghan society has made since 2001. She highlights:

A communications boom that has seen cellphone penetration top 50% —up from barely a blip a decade ago.

A thriving, independent regional and national news media.

2.4 million girls in school, from fewer than 10,000 in 2001.

Nearly 3,000 nationally accredited midwives, up from 250 in 2001, who teach women to deliver babies more safely.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a contributor to Kauffman’s work expeditionary economics, the deputy director of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Women and Foreign Policy program, and editor at large at Newsweek and The Daily Beast.